JJ Bites: Opportunities for Caterers
Updated: 8 May, 2024
JJ Bites: Opportunities for Caterers
Updated: 26 February, 2024
Last week we attended the HIM Wholesale 2018 conference – here is a summary of things we learnt which can help to boost your menu. 
The good news is, experts have forecast a juicy £3 billion growth opportunity for the foodservice market over next five years, so there’s business to be captured but caterers must be able to respond to consumer trends.
Cafes, sandwich shops and coffee shops are doing particularly well, growing 3.5% because they meet the consumer need for convenience. Do you have enough quick, easy, grab and go options on your menu?
The positive factors that are driving the UK foodservice sector include:
  1. The increase in tourism
  2. The younger generation drinking less alcohol and wanting to eat out more
  3. A growing number of UK stay-cations which means more people are eating out over the holiday period
  4. Busier lifestyles, which have helped to boost café, sandwich shop and coffee shop sales by 3.5% because they meet the consumer need for convenience.
The challenge for caterers is that the number of people eating out is only going up a smidgen – 0.8%. Spending is up 2.3%, mainly because food prices have gone up.
Visits to restaurants have gone down 6.2% because it costs more to eat out so diners are being a lot more selective on where they go. What this means for caterers is that they need to be more exciting in how they appeal to consumers.
This includes being more innovative with technology and making sure that people who want to order or online are catered for.
Did you know that when people shop online they spend 31% more and that 40% of people do not set a budget? So what are you waiting for?
If you need help to get your restaurant or takeaway online, our team at FOODit can help!
Tell me more about FOODit
Other interesting trends are around provenance, so it’s important to highlight locally and sustainably-sourced ingredients on menus.
Healthier snacking options like seaweed, rice cakes, miso soups etc. are still growing, as are meat-free options – think ‘meatless meatballs’ in Leon and vegan options (did you know you can buy vegan donuts?).
Veggy options are still growing in popularity
At JJ’s all our veggy and vegan products are clearly labeled to make the shopping process easier – just type ‘vegan’ or ‘vegetarian’ in the search bar to see the range available at your local branch.
So what’s going to be the next big food trend? Drum roll please… with Japanese now firmly established and Korean still going strong, apparently the next cuisine to cause a culinary storm is Venezuelan food! Read more about Venezuelan food concepts here.
That’s all for now, stay tuned to #JJBites for more inspiration, innovation and insight.
#HIM #insight #MCA #JJBites #JJFoodservice #foodservice #trends